Bowman warns of dangers of narrow spectrum of opinion

ARTHUR MILLER'S dictum that a good newspaper is a nation talking to itself became true of The Irish Timeswhen Douglas Gageby became its editor, the historian and broadcaster John Bowman said last night.

Speaking at the launch of From the Margins to the Centre, a new history of the paper by former company secretary Dermot James, Dr Bowman said it was Gageby's achievement to have made The Irish Timesa "more ordinary paper".

"He was lucky enough to arrive at the right moment, he had the talent and the leadership ability and the outlook in terms of his own intellectual interests. He loved this country and all its corners, and all 32 counties," he said.

The paper had progressed "dramatically and emphatically" since he began to buy it as a teenager - "It was a very important paper, but really, you'd have to call it dull" - Dr Bowman said. He said it was the achievement of Conor Brady and Geraldine Kennedy, as custodians of the paper, to continue that progress. He also warned of the dangers of a narrowing spectrum of opinion in Irish media, however. "Sometimes it is said, and I think there is a measure of truth in it, that there is nobody more illiberal than the Dublin 4 liberal. But there is somebody: the Dublin 6 liberal.

"Sometimes there is less of a spectrum of opinion than I think there should be. I think we need to keep an eye on widening out and not allowing a political correctness to close in and to believe that the Dublin 4/Dublin 6 view is always correct."

The book's author, Dermot James, thanked those who suggested he write the book and the many who helped him compile it. "My whole working life was in The Irish Times - I started off in the advertising section and ended up as company secretary.

"All my life, I regretted that the Times had no archive. There was a couple of people saying, 'why don't you do it', and because I was held up on another book, I thought - I'll play around with it."

In addition to current and former staff, last night's event was attended by George Wheeler, the great-grandson of the paper's second editor, also George Wheeler.

From the Margins to the Centre - A History of The Irish Timesis published by Woodfield Press.